Amitriptyline — Doctor Recommends It Because They Think Tinnitus Is a Form of Neuropathic Pain

I just visited my doctor for my severe tinnitus. He suggested Amitriptyline because he thinks that tinnitus is some form of neuropathic pain. Anyone had some results with Amitriptyline?

 

I've used both Amitriptyline and Nortriptyline with no effect on me personally. You can try them if want, but Amitriptyline is better for sleep.

I will say one thing, I had tinnitus in one ear, started to use Amitriptyline, and then got it in the other ear. I was on the max dose for both meds at the time (I wasn't on both at the same time).

Nortriptyline caused me to have insomnia though, unlike Amitriptyline. Both have tinnitus listed as a side effect.

 

This study reports on a double-blind investigation of amitriptyline for tinnitus:

Efficacy of amitriptyline in the treatment of subjective tinnitus

 

Does Amitriptyline work the first day you take it? Or must it build up in your system?

 

I have been trying Amitriptyline. A single dose (25 mg at night) has a remarkable effect on me - the very next morning my tinnitus and ear pain will be reduced by about 90 percent. This effect does not last and the tinnitus comes back about 24 hours later. Continued daily doses seemed to make my tinnitus worse and I discontinued after several days for that reason.

But if I wait a few weeks between doing a single 25 mg dose, I can replicate the experience of the dramatically reduced tinnitus, it works the same each time. So I have been using Amitriptyline when my tinnitus is particularly bad and I desperately need a one day break. It seems like my brain is being temporarily shocked in a positive way, suppressing the tinnitus, but then quickly gets used to the drug and lets the tinnitus return.

@glynis - have you ever heard of this happening, or did you experience anything like it? I have not come across any posts where people reported anything similar.

On the one hand I am glad to have a med that I can use once in a while for a short break from tinnitus, that is better than nothing. On the other hand, I wish I could discover a med that would have a similar effect but for longer term.

I am thinking of trying Nortriptyline to see if that has a similar effect.

 

I took Amitriptyline along with Gabapentin for two days.

I had to stop the Amitriptyline because it rang my nervous system like a bell. I took a bath and moving my hand and arm from hot to cold caused it to vibrate / ring all the way up and down the arms. My hands got cold and it felt like it was both cold and on fire and numb.

Didn't do crap to the tinnitus.

 

I started taking Amitriptyline.

My plan was to take 50mg for the first week and 100mg for the next 5 weeks.
I am on day 3 now.

Tinnitus decreased in the first 2 days. However, I experienced an increase in my tinnitus on day 3.

Should I stop taking the Amitriptyline?

 

Hard to say. It's almost impossible to tell if you would have experienced this pattern on or off the drug.

For me, I'm a bit scared of Amitriptyline. I took a single 25 mg dose one evening, slept well, and then developed my weird fluttering in my left ear the next evening. I can't say for sure if this would have happened otherwise, but I had also taken it for six months earlier in 2020.

It's a risk either way. You could keep taking it for a week and keeping track of how things change, or just drop it altogether.

 

I took another 50mg tonight. Let's see how I'm tomorrow morning.

 

That's TTTS - tonic tensor tympani syndrome. I doubt Amitriptyline would cause it.

 

How are you feeling when you wake up after having taken 50 mg?! Are you drowsy/exhausted?

 

Hi Bill,
I was not sleepy. Because I slept 8 hours. It reduces the tinnitus a little while taking it, but the tinnitus returns when the effect is gone. That's why I stopped taking it.

 

You may be right, but there's no way to tell for sure. Right now, I'm too scared to try medication like this for fear of side effects or other problems. It is a shame because Amitriptyline does seem to be one of the better prescriptions to try in dealing with this symptom. The ENT I had visited a couple days ago even talked about how often he prescribes it for this purpose.

 

I got severe tinnitus from Amitriptyline.

 

For how long, and in what dose did you take Amitriptyline?

 

Is Amitriptyline indicated for chronic tinnitus too?

Oh no...

 

No, I'm pretty sure it's an off-label use. I would only say it's "indicated" as far as doctors really have nothing else to consider giving their patients besides supplements and herbals. Amitriptyline has been used to varying degrees of success in some studies, and its function in the brain may very well translate to positive changes in terms of reducing or lessening the symptom. Plus, it's pretty darned good (in my experience) as a sleep aid.

 

I take 150 mg of Amitriptyline along with 50 mg of Seroquel every night and I sleep like a baby. I get more sleep now than I did before tinnitus.

 

Does the Amitriptyline help with your tinnitus at all?

 

Took 25mg for a while. It basically did nothing.

 

How do you know it was the Amitriptyline and not something else?

 

In my case, after being 1 month on 10 mg of Amitriptyline, used to prevent migraines (off-label):

- I can't confirm any significant positive impact on my tinnitus, since there were new tones appearing on a daily basis (I was on the very first month of tinnitus).
- On the other hand, I experienced some sort of Musical Tinnitus, I spent and entire day hearing a 12 seconds sequence similar to keyboard notes ending with a train horn, plus, I had a visual hallucination before waking up, where I saw some alphabet characters being drawn in the air (like, A X F J E... )... I decided to interrupt the usage of Amitriptyline after this episode.
- I was able to sleep properly after a long time of insomnia.
- I slept so well that I wanted to sleep THE WHOLE DAY and this was starting to impact my daily duties.

After one month I stoped using it, never had migraines anymore, which is extremely good.
My tinnitus kept changing in pitch, frequency and number of tones on an hourly basis.

All in all, I cant blame Amitriptyline for the possible Musical Tinnitus thing, but I was a little bit scared by that.
I confess, it was good to sleep properly, but feeling sleepy and yawning during the entire day was diminishing the benefits.

Personally, I don't like taking medications regularly, unless my life depends on it, so I will avoid it for now.

 

I took Amitriptyline for bladder issues. Only 3 pills, 10 mg each. Bang tinnitus, and looks like it is permanent. Torture.

 

No but it allows me to sleep like a baby. 8-10 hours a night. I was taking it for a few years at a low dose of 10-20 mg but once tinnitus hit I ramped it up. My GP just boosted me to 200 mg a night to help with depression from this bullshit condition. I have no baseline or changes every day. It's in ears, sometimes in head, sometimes goes away for a week. No pattern. Drives me crazy.